[A-List] France Pushes Expanded, Global EU-NATO Military Role

["Tony B." <tal1@xxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rick Rozoff
To: Stop NATO
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 5:50 PM
Subject: [stopnato] France Pushes Expanded, Global EU-NATO Military Role


http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3326463&C=europe

Defense News (US)
January 23, 2008

French Defense Chief Outlines Military Commitments
By PIERRE TRAN

-"Let's not forget Europe could become a target. If
Europe doesn't take further steps to assure its own
security, who will?"
-London and Paris shared a common position regarding
Europe and defense: Other EU countries need to boost
military capability....The arrival of President
Nicolas Sarkozy and his openness toward full French
membership in NATO marks a big shift....

PARIS - Defense Minister Hervé Morin pledged Jan. 22
to maintain France's military capabilities, including
intelligence-gathering and independent action, as the
government moves to shut bases and redirect money to
the front line.

Speaking before a sea of senior officers in uniforms,
industrial leaders and journalists at the naval museum
here, Morin outlined his New Year's commitments.

The chief undertaking is "the maintenance of the
defense effort," Morin said. This commitment is one he
shared with the president, he said.

Because the military establishment is cutting costs in
a large rationalization, this allows it to ask for the
resources to carry out required missions, he said.

The second commitment is to own the
intelligence-gathering and command assets needed to
make independent assessments.

"Our autonomy in decision-making is non-negotiable,"
he said. France could not delegate the power of
analysis and decisions to an ally or an international
organization, he added.

That called for "possession of real capabilities of
intelligence and command."

A third priority is the capacity for action. France
should remain a credible power with a full spread of
military capabilities, he said.

Under the fourth commitment, all decisions will be
taken with a view to giving the armed forces the best
operational capabilities possible.

"The operational forces will be preserved," he said.

Under a sweeping reorganization, the Defense Ministry
is poised to close small bases around the country and
consolidate them into larger sites. A push toward a
joint-service approach means different service arms
will share premises, support and administrative
functions....

The last time the services faced such upheaval was
after the 1996 move to a professional volunteer force
from a conscripted military.

Morin repeated an assurance that defense would be a
priority when France takes up the rotating presidency
of the European Union in July.

"Let's not forget Europe could become a target," he
said. "If Europe doesn't take further steps to assure
its own security, who will?"

Reorganization of the military establishment,
including a new ministry building, base closures, a
greater joint approach and improved conditions for
service personnel and families, extend reforms pursued
by the previous minister, Michele Alliot-Marie.

A British official who attended Morin's speech said
London and Paris shared a common position regarding
Europe and defense: Other EU countries need to boost
military capability.

That understanding is a strong base on which to work
together, the official said.

The arrival of President Nicolas Sarkozy and his
openness toward full French membership in NATO marks a
big shift from the nit-picking approach of his
predecessor, Jacques Chirac, which complicated
alliance relations, the official said.

On the European Defense Agency (EDA), London sees the
function as assessing capability needs and matching
national programs so resources are pooled, the
official said.

That is a different role from a conventional armaments
agency at the European level envisioned by Paris, he
added.

Britain's veto of a three-year budget for EDA was due
to the agency's lack of clarity on spending plans in
the third year rather than a fear of federalism, the
official said. France had supported the move to
multiyear funding.

French industry leaders regularly evoke a strengthened
EDA as the means to fit together the jigsaw puzzle
pieces of national arms markets into a single picture.

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